Above image via Instagram: @fragile_like_life_after
Giovanni Mori | Posted December 19th, 2024
With music being a timeless form of art existing for thousands of years, it’s rare to find a new sound that’s never been done before, especially for avid music listeners with hundreds of favorites across multiple genres. Fans of any type will agree that once in a while, everyone needs a new sound to scratch that itch in their brains after listening to the same five artists every day. Back in May of 2024, I luckily stumbled upon a band that achieved those goals called Fragile Like Life After.
Hailing from Lancaster PA, Fragile Like Life After consists of guitarist and vocalist Max Ludewig, bassist and vocalist Adrian Alicea (also referred to as Age), and drummer Chris Copeland. I initially met the band while they were touring across the greater Pittsburgh area at a venue called Local 724 Studio in Beaver Falls. To summarize my experience by the time they took the stage, I was absolutely blown away by the band despite only hearing of them that morning. Fragile Like Life After’s genre is considered to be screamo post rock, which in their music, also contains a mixture of many subgenres including hardcore, shoegaze, math rock, and even spoken word poetry. Witnessing a thrilling performance of the members thrashing themselves around to songs with no structure and all chaos was everything I needed to resuscitate my deep love for music.
Above image via Instagram: @fragile_like_life_after
I simply couldn’t get enough from the band just by streaming them, so I virtually sat with two of the members, Copeland and Ludewig, to discuss their sound and dive deep into the songwriting of their most recent EP, A Long Look At A Short Distance. With two full length albums already under their belt before the EP released in April of 2024, we first discussed the overall process of working together as a band, how the five tracks off their EP turned out to be their most intentional and thought-out release in their discography, and as a result, became some of the most powerful songs the trio has ever written.
Copeland: “We’re always writing new stuff. For the first record, Max and Age basically came to me with it, Age had written pretty much all of the material up to that point, all the riffs, all the lyrics, and so on our first record, they pretty much came to me and were like ‘Hey, we have a band, here’s our record, do you want to play drums on it?’ and I was like ‘Sure!’
“I learned those songs with them pretty quickly, and then we were immediately writing like you know, ‘Next record! Next stuff!’ and we’ve pretty much been like that the whole time…I don’t think we ever sat down and were like ‘Alright, it’s time to write The Record,’ you know? It’s always we write some stuff, and then kind of figure out what goes together.
“So pretty much the only thing that I think we were pretty solid on is that we knew we wanted each song to flow into each other so we could play them all back to back in like a live set, kind of as one thing where it’s just like you know, ‘Here’s fifteen minutes of pretty intense music that kind of flows as this experience,’ …that was kind of the only real super solid idea we had going into it.”
Ludewig: “I think our whole thing was trying to make it feel like a consecutive song, rather than like five different songs. It’s like any post rock album, you have your highs and your lows…we can give us some breathing room when we’re playing, but also give the listener some breathing room just to feel the dynamic shifts and all the changes going on throughout the whole thing.”
track 1: i don’t care what your psychic says!!
Youtube: Fragile Like Life After – Topic
The first track, “I Don’t Care What Your Psychic Says!!”, eases the listeners in one instrument at a time starting with Copeland’s drums. Then we kick things off with Ludewig’s palm muted guitar riff and Alicea’s heartbeat-like bassline before adding the harsh vocals as the cherry on top, Copeland said:
“It’s a really fun way to start the record. Obviously it starts with drums which I think is a really cool way to kind of pull the listener in. If we’re starting with the record, like, that’s the first song we’re playing in a set, we generally don’t really say anything, we just kind of go for it. So it’s a really cool way to kind of suck the air out of the room but not like in a jarring way, kind of just in a good attention grabbing way, I think it really sets the mood.”
The song appears to build itself from the ground up as the guitar playing moves from palm mutes into more of a lead part, which the listener would then naturally anticipate for the song to bloom itself into a memorable chorus section. The listener gets their wish as we break into melodic vocals over big chords to maintain the song’s energy all the way to the end, providing that satisfying release from the song’s beginning. When discussing the track’s meaning, Ludewig said:
“It’s kind of about trying to find the words to say about something, but never really actually getting there. Like never having the confidence to actually say what you mean. That’s what I mean in the end when I say ‘These conversations with myself never go where I need them to’” (2:19 – 2:27).
It becomes clear from the song’s final lines where the title comes from, which, like the music itself has accomplished, hooks you enough to make you want to keep listening, and just before the track wraps up its two and a half minute runtime, you’re suddenly caught off guard before two loud hits on the hi-hat cymbal immediately drag you away by the ankles.
track 2: adam halo highlight reel
Youtube: Fragile Like Life After – Topic
Without warning, “Adam Halo Highlight Reel” explodes into a heavy breakdown with a menacingly low guitar riff. Track two is a complete one hundred eighty degree angle from “I Don’t Care What Your Psychic Says!!”, and is the perfect track for fans of Fragile’s heavier side.
Ludewig: “I can’t remember exactly who came up with the riff, but I just remember being like ‘Yeah, let’s just keep this one heavy from jump and just go right into it.’ I also remember for the first song, wanting it to end on kind of like, not a lighter note, but rather like an airier note like keeping it up…I wanted to go into something like just fucking heavy immediately after that. We had come up with the idea of keeping it all transient pretty early on.”
While the combination of the heavy guitars and crash cymbals give the song a nice stomping effect, making you feel like your roof is going to cave in, the riff gracefully changes to a more mild lead guitar sound, which uniquely feels as though the guitar is literally singing to you behind all of the song’s harshness. It’s certainly uncommon for a guitar part to mix both the rhythm and lead the way Fragile does, which according to Ludewig, has always been a staple for the three-piece.
“Adam Halo Highlight Reel” became an instant favorite not only for myself, but according to the band, also among other listeners and fans at live shows even before the EP had been released. Needless to say, the trio did something right when creating this track.
track 3: who’s doing a faith build?
Youtube: Fragile Like Life After – Topic
If you’re a not fan of heavy songs, you might be interested in Fragile’s slower and softer side to make you feel like you’re flying through the air. A Long Look At A Short Distance successfully does this with its third track, “Who’s Doing A Faith Build?”, beginning with a beautiful and somber guitar intro.
Ludewig: “When it comes to that intro guitar riff, I had written that separately like a couple months prior to even us writing this. We were talking about how to get from track two to track four, and I think it was Chris’ idea to bring it down, to have a moment of rest, and I was like ‘Well I have this riff, like just this pretty guitar intro,’ and everyone was like ‘Yeah, we like that.’”
Copeland: “I think musically, it’s the first like big breathing moment. The first song isn’t necessarily super high energy but it just kind of keeps pushing and musically, it’s building throughout…Obviously, Adam Halo is pretty high energy, pretty heavy. So this is kind of the first breathing point, kind of gives some air back to the full experience.”
After a couple of progressions, we hear the inclusion of Alicea’s bass and Copeland’s cymbals as a way to keep the carefree guitar part grounded, along with a mix of harsh and clean vocals together to give an uneasy feeling for the listener later in the tune. But what really drives this track forward is the spoken word poetry written by Alicea, which is clearly about wanting to feel loved with lines like “Jewelry, touch my skin, caress awakeable flame, make me believe I’m brighter than the sun, love despite change, fascination, oblivious, beauty inviting, exalted, love me…” (0:51 – 1:07).
Ludewig: “Age loves that, that’s been a staple of Fragile since the very beginning. The first song we ever wrote was “TMA-1″ which is pretty much just a spoken word song. Age just really loved wordplay, like just messing around making stream of consciousness poems, back in college they were very into it and would come up with some just wild sh*t.”
While the first two thirds of the song provide a much needed break for the listener, it seemed the band couldn’t help themselves building up to a heavy and brooding outro section, which luckily still works as it flows into the next track, and fans are almost guaranteed to love every second.
Copeland: “I think the drop, like the heavier back end of this is like one of my favorite parts of the record, I think there’s a really nice build into it which I really appreciate musically. It kind of splits the record in half basically both momentum wise and obviously in a literal sense being the middle song.”
track 4: the trick is off
Youtube: Fragile Like Life After – Topic
“The Trick Is Off” picks up right where “Who’s Doing A Faith Build?” leaves off with a powerful and accelerating tempo from the moment you press play. Similar to the rest of EP, the instruments feel melodic in their own ways between more harsh vocals and massive chords, each one having their own time to shine.
Ludewig: “We were talking about like ‘Alright, where do we come out of track three? How do we come out of that?…An absolute punch in the face.’ I wanted this song to have no brakes and just go…a lot of Fragile songs start with us just playing and we’re not really sure what, and it just kind of comes around, and that’s how this song was created.”
While track four feels more simplistic than the last three, the band still makes it work in their post rock style, making sure to not leave out any of the genre’s characteristics. When it comes to the instrumentation, the guitars crank their distortion levels to eleven, the bass rides on its same groovy lick, and the drums constantly evolve which give both stringed instruments their needed momentum. And who could forget the doomy, disgusting outro wrapping up the song before you even realize it’s over? The song may only run at two minutes and fourteen seconds, but it’s one of the band’s most effective ways for fans to really break a sweat in the mosh pit, whether they’re at a live show, or just in their bedrooms throwing themselves around.
track 5: Breaking sequence
Youtube: Fragile Like Life After – Topic
“Breaking Sequence” is not only the final track off of A Long Look At A Short Distance, but it’s also the longest clocking in at nearly six minutes, which fans can rightfully assume this track is going to be one huge closer.
Ludewig: “We were all kind of of the same mind, like ‘This is the big one, how do we execute it?’, and so Age came up with that bassline and we were just like ‘We’re gonna rock on this, just like classic post rock, just really drag this one out and have it build.’”
Continuing the flow from the rest of the EP, we’re presented with a clean guitar and bass intro, along with building cymbals scattered throughout providing another nice calming effect from the previous track. Once again, we’re treated with more spoken word poetry from Alicea, with more beautiful imagery that feels like the song is now letting go, “…if only for a month, I’ll take the time, to shed and shuck every layer of skin that believes in you, I match your mercy like sun on tile, paints on walls, brush on face, stay the same, pray for rain, hand to hand, we’re face to face, my eyes are shy like shadows cast, my words to hide the heart at last, a blade to fit, my depth, a dance…” (1:04 – 2:16).
All of a sudden, the band finally works their way up to the song’s climax with blastbeats on the drums and the guitars painfully and rapidly strumming across each string. And just when the music dies down and the listener thinks they’re safe, the trio breaks into a math rock ending reminiscent of bands like Converge and The Chariot, all while layered with feral vocals crying out that are nearly impossible to understand except for the lines “I want to be seen, I want to be loved” (5:02 – 5:08).
Ludewig: “A lot of this song and a lot of this record is about finding yourself in gender identity, and for this one it’s definitely about exactly what it says, wanting to be seen, wanting to be loved…it’s like these are all the things that are holding you back from being the person you want to be.”
The fake ending, releasing every ounce of emotion and energy left within the band is a relieving ending for the listener wanting more before all goes quiet, and the EP’s final seconds of silence has a way of making you feel like your head has finally been pulled above water.
Copeland: “The fake ending definitely I think brings it together…pretty much everything from the blastbeats going forward is just this big moment of catharsis, and then there’s just a ton tension in that riff at the end. Obviously very aggressive and musically dissonant, so there’s a lot of intensity there. The fake ending and coming back into it I think is a really good way to tie up the album.”
final thoughts
Above image via Instagram: @fragile_like_life_after
Fragile Like Life After’s A Long Look At A Short Distance is not for the faint of heart, but it reveals more possibilities for the timeless art of music, and for me, was a personal reawakening after seeing the band in action and listening through their discography. Fans of the Lancaster trio may notice this release is especially darker compared to their previous albums, 2021’s I Thought I Saw A UFO But It Was Just Five Months and 2022’s (I Don’t Think They’re Coming).
Copeland: “The first record is pretty mellow I would say more than anything, it has some like heavy angry stuff, but I’d say for the most part it’s a lot more chill, a lot less intense musically and emotionally. The second record is a little all over the place, I would say it’s definitely more intense, it’s more aggressive, the loud parts are really loud you know, the emotionally intense parts are really aggressive. This most recent record…is definitely more self reflective in terms of the lyrics and some of the other stuff that we’ve written, and it’s more consistent in terms of each song being very emotionally intense and having this very focused idea. It’s definitely more in that direction than any of the other stuff has been which is pretty intentional I think.”
You may even feel some of the EP’s intensity and darkness before listening to the first track when looking close at the video game inspired album art, Copeland continues:
“We’re all pretty deep in the video game hole, Age and I like a lot of that same old Castlevania like Metroid kind of stuff. But yeah, our friend Lauren did a really good job on the art, I think it really captures a lot of what the album’s doing in a really nice way, it does kind of tie in the aesthetic, it does give you a good indication of the vibe which I think is a really important part of any project…On a very literal sense it is literally a long look at kind of a short distance? There’s this element of verticality that makes the tower look further away than it actually is. But thematically it also kind of ties everything together which I think is pretty cool.”
As far the music itself goes, to sum up the trio’s process and its results, Ludewig says:
“I think this has been the most cohesive, put together, and just the best project that we’ve released, and I think it’s put us on a path of where we’re going next. And the songs we’re writing, because we already have some new songs as well, not recorded yet, but I think they’re even better.”
It’s clear that fans of Fragile like myself have more to look forward to in the future, but in the meantime, listen to the EP in full and follow their Instagram, @fragile_like_life_after, for more!
Sources
“Adam Halo Highlight Reel” Youtube, uploaded by Fragile Like Life After – Topic, 3 Apr. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDD257j9ikI
“Breaking Sequence” Youtube, uploaded by Fragile Like Life After – Topic, 3 Apr. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRAGUpxOm5o
Fragile Like Life After [@fragile_like_life_after]. Action shot. Instagram, 15 Apr. 2024, https://www.instagram.com/p/C5ytCzHvwjM/?img_index=8
Fragile Like Life After [@fragile_like_life_after]. Album cover. Instagram, illustrated by Lauren Daddezio, 4 Apr. 2024, https://www.instagram.com/p/C5WIdAXukSU/
Fragile Like Life After [@fragile_like_life_after]. Band photo. Instagram, 18 Dec. 2023, https://www.instagram.com/p/C1AKpohOxzJ/?img_index=1
“I Don’t Care What Your Physic Says!!” Youtube, uploaded by Fragile Like Life After – Topic, 3 Apr. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0bQkl7k16Y
“The Trick Is Off” Youtube, uploaded by Fragile Like Life After – Topic, 3 Apr. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_YccpHeZVM
“Who’s Doing A Faith Build?” Youtube, uploaded by Fragile Like Life After – Topic, 3 Apr. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsxqopZF5TM
